The current study investigates the cognitive and emotional abilities of psychopathic individuals. To assess whether psychopathic individuals show decision-making impairment, group differences are mirrored by correlations between cognitive and emotional measures and psychopathy.

Twenty psychopathic individuals and a comparaison group, as defined by DSM-IV criteria for antisocial personality disorder and the Psychopathy Cheklist Revised (PCL-R), were tested a standardized psychometric measures of alexithymia and cognitive empathy (LEAS), a facial emotion recognition (RME). We also examined these patients with procedure designed to measure decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task) and standardized neuropsychological tests were applied to assess their cognitive intelligence, executive functioning, attention as well. Their results were compared with those of 20 controls subjects.

Compared with controls, psychopathic individuals were characterized by a selective impairment for cognitive flexibility, cognitive empathy and decision-making. These results are interpretated with reference to amygdale dysfunction and to somatic markers hypothesis. Moreover, the psychopathic individuals show defective performance and absence punishment learning on the gambling task, who mimicked the gambling behavior of orbitofrontal patients.

Our findings suggest that emotional and social functioning is critically tied to on-going experience of autonomic arousal state. Furthermore our results extend the link between dysfunction of ther orbitofrontal circuit, but also dorsolateral prefrontal circuit, and psychopathy. The implications of these results for models of psychopathy are discussed.